Eyes on the Prize

Over the last week, newspapers’ front pages and radio and TV newscasts have included a healthy share of nonprofit news, with Nobel Prizes being handed out to a variety of individuals and groups with no connection whatsoever to quarterly income statements or the SEC. Yet the immense validation conferred by a Nobel Prize will undoubtedly help their recipients. Doris Lessing will sell more books. Environmental organizations focused on climate change will receive more donations. Researchers working in the fields of genetic alteration, surface chemistry, data storage, and whatever the Nobel laureate in economics studies (the prize will be announced tomorrow) will attract more funding.

Nonprofits can be loathe to toot their own horns. They shouldn’t be. As the Nobels show, trumpeting one’s achievements brings greater attention to the cause, which can only help an organization further its mission. | 501(c)